


You Can't Spell Homophobic Without Bi

by Heartithateyou



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Crushes, Cute, Cute Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, One Off, One Shot, Post-Avengers (2012), Random & Short, Random One Shot, Randomness, Secret Crush, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Steve is gay, Stony - Freeform, Superhusbands, Superhusbands (Marvel), Sweet, Tony is a little oblivious, Tony is bi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wrong Impression, all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 16:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11695119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heartithateyou/pseuds/Heartithateyou
Summary: Tony has been acting weird around Steve lately, and he's not exactly sure why.Little does he know that Tony has the wrong idea about his 1920's sensibilities.(AKA Tony thinks he's homophobic)Spoiler: He's not.





	You Can't Spell Homophobic Without Bi

Tony had been acting weird around him.

Weirder than Tony waking him up at 4 am to ask him a question about the new suit he was creating, or falling asleep in completely random places around the tower, or trying to invent a new supplement to provide all of his nutritional needs rather than just eating meals like a normal person.

So for Tony to do anything to be considered weird, it had to be something big.

But, in spite of the odds, he was acting weird.

It had started the other morning, when Steve was up and cooking breakfast early in the morning. Tony had walked past the kitchen which was weird enough on its own, but then he looked like he was about to have a heart attack when he spotted Steve.

“What’re you doing up?” Tony had asked, looking like a deer in the headlights. His hair was all over the place and his shirt was inside out, he looked like an adorable, disheveled mess.

“Its six AM, that’s when some people wake up. Don’t tell me, you’re still up from last night?” He asks with a laugh. The only time they saw each other in the mornings was when Tony stayed up way too late and crawled into the kitchen looking for coffee.

“Yeah, I definitely didn’t sleep last night…” He mutters as he casts a glance down the hallway.

“Sounds about right. Are you hungry? There’s more than enough for two.” He asks, keeping an eye on Tony. He keeps looking down the hall and starts to mouth something before he glances back.

“In a minute, I just have to go run and grab something that I… forgot.” He mutters, before quickly darting back down the hallway. Steve can hear whispers from the hallway and feels his heart sink slightly when he realizes he’s probably talking to one of his “guests”.

He had nothing against people hooking up, he was more progressive than people seemed to give him credit for and felt slightly embarrassed that Tony felt the need to try to hide his dates from him.

But it also made him glad in a weird way, because then he didn’t have to put on a happy face meeting the people that secretly made him hulk-green with rage. Because somehow, despite the logic and the odds and the forces of the universe working against him, he had a massive, raging crush on Tony Stark.

Bachelor, unobtainable, Tony Stark.

Ever since Tony and Pepper had broken up, he hadn’t shown any interest in getting into another relationship, and Steve wasn’t dumb enough to fool himself into thinking Steve could change that.

But it still did ugly things to his envious side whenever he had a guest over, be it male or female. Although Steve had only ever seen Tony’s female guests, he had super human hearing and could smell another man’s cologne from five feet away. So no matter how quiet or subtle Tony thought he was being, Steve still knew all too well.

At least he never had to look at Tony’s male guests and silently compare himself to them.

“Okay, I got the… thing. So breakfast?” Tony asks as he re-enters the kitchen.

“What, your date didn’t want to stay for eggs?” He asks, hoping his comment comes out as humorous as opposed to bitter.

Tony looks stunned, his hand poised above a mug, “I….”

“Tony, I’m not dumb, I could hear you whispering. It’s not a big deal honestly. You don’t have to sneak around and hide them from me. I know everyone thinks my morals are stuck in the 1920’s, but honestly I’m more open minded than anyone seems to give me credit for.” Steve says as he prepares Tony a plate.

“So you wouldn’t be shocked by me hooking up with… someone?” Tony asks with a side eye.

“Of course not, you’re a single man.” Steve says as he places the plate before Tony and turns to make his own.

“So you wouldn’t be bothered by me hooking up with a woman or a….” Tony cuts off as Clint barges into the kitchen.

“Headquarters! Now! Loki! Explosions! Help!” Clint rambles manically, gesturing to the both of them.

They both rush off and grab their gear, Steve wondering what Tony was starting to ask.

Weird.

 

Steve walked into the living room a few days later and things once again got kind of… odd.

“Hey Tony? Could you look over these schematics and let me know what you think? SHIELD sent over some suit models and I don’t know.” He mutters, looking over the plans again as he walks toward Tony.

“Huh? Oh sure.” Tony says as he reaches out for the tablet, still looking at the phone in his hand.

“What’re you watching?” He asks as he looks at the tv. He somewhat recognizes the two actors in it, but doesn’t recognize it.

“Oh, it’s a… cowboy movie.” Tony mutters out, looking for the remote.

“Oh, is this Brokeback mountain?” He asks, finally putting a name to one of the actors. Sam had suggested it as one of the movies he should catch up on. Sam had put together a list of LGBT movies for him to watch and had rated them on least to most tears shed.

Brokeback mountain had made it near the top of the list.

“You’ve heard about Brokeback mountain?” Tony asked with a confused expression.

“Yeah, it was on one of the lists Sam recommended.” He says noncommittedly. He wasn’t exactly, ashamed of his sexuality, but he wasn’t about to come out to Tony by explaining Sam’s movie recommendations.

That would almost be as bad as when he accidentally came out to Sam by getting porn stuck on his computer.

“Oh, okay.” Tony says, still looking slightly perplexed.

“Oh!” He says as he sees the two men begin making out, with one of their wives seeing them. He quickly looks away, the last thing he wants to do is spoil the rest of the movie.

“Sorry, let me just change that-“ Tony mutters as he quickly changes the channel.

“Thanks, I really hate spoilers. Clint ruined Star Wars for me and trust me, he regretted it at training the next day.” He says with a laugh.

“Oh…” Tony says, looking at him like a puzzle to solve.

“What? Oh, did you think-“ He cuts off as Coulson enters the room.

“Stark, what did I say about making modifications without asking first?” He asks with a stern expression on his face.

“Well you should say thank you.” He says with a smirk, standing up and giving Steve an apologetic look, “Looks like we’ll have to continue this another time.”

 

The next time things got weird was during their weekly movie night. Steve and Tony were sharing a couch as usual, and were currently fighting over a blanket.

“Stark, you have like a million blankets, just go get your own!” He laughs as he pulls the blanket another quarter inch in his direction.

“I have been on my feet all day, no way I’m getting up again and finding a blanket!” Tony grits out as he tries to wrap himself further in the blanket.

“The closet is five feet away, I think you’ll live!” Steve laughs as he manages to hang on to the blanket as Tony burritos himself into it. Steve may have super strength, but that is nothing compared to Tony’s stubbornness.

“You have no way of knowing that!” Tony asks as he makes one last ditch attempt to completely wrap himself into the blanket. Unfortunately, Steve decides to tug the blanket at that exact moment and Tony more or less ends up in his lap.

“Well, that wasn’t exactly what I had planned.” Tony mutters as he tries to move out of Steve’s space. Unfortunately, he was pretty successful as wrapping himself in the blanket and is struggling to move.

“Hey, whatever works.” He says with a laugh, trying to ignore how good Tony feels against him. He adjust Tony slightly so he’s leaning against his side but off his lap, not willing to let him go completely.

Tony gives him a baffled look, so he explains, “This way we both get to share the blanket.”

“Oh… You don’t feel weird or awkward sitting so close or anything…” Tony trails off, fiddling with his hands under the sheets.

Steve cocks his head as he looks at him, unsure what he’s getting at. Sure, he and Tony weren’t exactly cuddle buddies, but he’d never meant to give off the vibe that he had boundary issues.

“Of course not, don’t silly.” He says with a laugh. “Tony, I’ve shared barracks with more men than I can count, and that’s because there were a lot, not because I can’t count that high.”

Tony laughs but there’s still an unreadable expression on his face, like Steve is missing the point. Before Steve can ask what’s the matter, they’re both distracted by Natasha showing up, officially signaling the beginning of movie night and the usual argument over what to watch.

Guess that’ll be a question for another day.

 

Things were back to normal for almost a week, until him and Tony were training in the gym together.

They had been sparring, with Tony wearing his boots and gauntlets to even the playing field. Unfortunately, towards the end of it he had gotten momentarily distracted (because how did Tony’s butt look so good in those tracks pants) and grabbed his wrist with a little more force than he meant.

By doing so, he more or less grabbed Tony and threw him onto the floor, landing on top of him.

“Oh my gosh, you weigh like a million pounds.” Tony grunts out from beneath him. Gosh, he wishes he was grunting out something else beneath him, under different circumstances.

Although he did have a gym fantasy…

“I had a big breakfast.” He stutters out before his mind can get any further into the gutter.

“Sure sure, that’s what all the boys say when they’re on top.” Tony says with a laugh before his face grows serious.

“What’s wrong? Your face got all…” Morbid. Dark. Sad in that way that makes him want to do anything to make him smile again.

“I wasn’t sure if that joke was too far…” Tony mutters out, not looking directly at him.

“Tony, I have heard jokes before. Those did exist in the 1920’s.” He says with a laugh.

“I mean… “ He trails off, Steve finally putting two and two together.

“You mean gay jokes? Tony, of course I’m fine with them, why wouldn’t I be?” He asks with a furrowed brow. Tony looked torn between telling him and finding any excuse in the world to bolt.

“I just thought….” Tony begins again, biting his lip.

“What?” He asks, praying that Loki or Natasha or Ultron won’t interrupt them this time.

“I thought you might not be okay with gay things or… people.” Tony finally blurts out, looking like he wants to disappear. Steve is suddenly very aware that he’s still on top of Tony, and he should probably have chosen any other time to have this conversation.

“You thought I was homophobic?” He asks, totally baffled. Beyond the fact that he was open minded in general, he happened to have a rather embarrassing crush on the man he was currently on top of.

“Well maybe a little, who could blame you with when you grew up and everything-“ Tony begins to ramble.

“Is that why you’ve been so weird?” He asks as his brain begins to put all the pieces together. 

“I mean, I haven’t been that weird-“ Tony starts to babble before Steve decides to just put them both out of their misery.

“Tony. I’m gay.” He states. He looks down at Tony who looks stunned. He blinks slowly as he stares up at him, as though seeing him for the first time.

“…. What? Since when?” Tony finally sputters out.

“Have been forever, but thanks for noticing.” Steve says with a laugh. For a genius, Tony could be amazingly thick sometimes.

“You- but- Peggy! My dad said-“ Tony breaks out, which Steve is thankful for. He was pretty sure Howard probably used some creative words he’d really rather never hear.

“She was an amazing woman and a great friend, and yes we probably would have gotten married. Because those days, you married a woman and you had kids, there really weren’t other options. Especially if you wanted to be in the military.” He explains. He felt slightly awkward explaining all of this to Tony, because how do you really explain that you were ready to marry a woman to your current crush.

Who was still currently pinned beneath you.

“So she was your beard?” Tony asks slowly.

“I wouldn’t say that, we had a genuine friendship and I cared a lot about her. But she never made my heart go crazy and my stomach feel like it was on a roller coaster.” He says, wishing he could admit that was how Tony made him feel.

“Have you ever felt that way about… someone?” Tony asks.

“I have in fact…” He says, steeling his nerves to finally tell Tony.

“Guys! Guys! Big ship! Aliens! So many aliens! Avengers assemble!” Clint yells as he bursts into the gym.

“Seriously?!” Tony yells.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He shouts at Clint. Because honestly, what the fuck?

“I interrupted something, I see that now. But the city is currently getting destroyed so I feel like that one’s not on me.” Clint explains as Sam and Natasha show up behind him.

“What’s going on in here?” Sam asks with a devious expression on his face.

“Save that for after boys.” Natasha says with a smirk.

“After.” He says, giving Tony a look.

 

The battle went on for what seemed like forever and they barely got out of a debriefing by Steve giving Fury a murderous look when he suggested it.

Apparently Captain America giving someone bitch face is enough to get the entire team out of a meeting. As soon as Fury dismisses them, Steve and Tony head back to the tower in almost total silence. There’s so much he wants to say, but his voice seems to be caught in his throat.

“Do you want to come to my room? So we can talk?” He asks Tony as soon as they get back to the tower, trying to keep his voice level. He’s half terrified Tony will have changed his mind and will mutter some excuse about having to work on something.

“Sure.” Tony says softly. He can’t help but notice how close they stand together in the elevator, even though they’re the only two people in it.

They ride up together silently, and Steve hopes he isn’t imagining the tension between them. He swears he can feel the electricity between them, filled with tension and too many words left unsaid. When the doors open, he leads the way down the hallway to his room, opening the door to it and gesturing Tony inside.

As usual, the room is neat and clean, a habit from inspections in the military. But there are signs of him settling in scattered all around the room. His sketch books are neatly stacked on his dresser and he has framed pictures of the team scattered around the room.

When he closes the door behind I’m, he can’t help but notice the way his heart seems to race and he feels breathless, like a ninety pound kid from Brooklyn all over again.

“You asked before if I ever felt that way about someone. And I do. They make my heart race and my palms sweaty. They’re actually doing that right now actually. But they make me feel so alive and excited and terrified all at the same time. They make me feel like I’m sky-diving without a parachute or facing an entire army of cranky robots. And yet I have never felt safer with someone than I feel with them. They make me feel loved and accepted and supported and a million other things I can’t even find the words for. They’ve… they’ve become my home.” He says, his eyes boring into Tony as he talks. 

Maybe he shouldn’t be spilling his guts to Tony right now. Maybe he should have just told him he liked him and asked him out. Maybe he shouldn’t be confessing his love to a man who thought he was slightly homophobic a few hours ago. 

But he couldn’t help himself. And maybe a small part of him hoped that somehow, despite the odds, Tony might feel the same way.

He feels his heart practically beating out of his chest as he stares at Tony and waits for him to say something. But he doesn’t. He just keeps looking at Steve with an unreadable expression.

He finally takes a step towards him and closes the distance between them. He reaches up and places his hand on Steve’s cheek, and he can’t help but lean into the touch. Tony brings his other hand to the back of his neck and pulls him down until their faces are barely an inch apart. He can feel Tony’s breath on his face and the warmth of his skin.

Finally, he feels Tony’s lips on his, soft and sweet and he feels himself melt into the embrace. Tony’s goatee scratches his cheeks slightly and he leans in further to deepen the kiss. He wraps his hand around Tony’s waist as he pulls him even closer, feeling Tony moan into his mouth. He wishes they could stay like this forever, wrapped up in Tony as the rest of the world melts away. 

Tony finally pulls back slightly, panting softly as he rests their foreheads together. 

“This will be really awkward if I’m not the guy you’re talking about.” Tony whispers, causing Steve to let out a giggle.

“Probably as awkward as it would be if I was homophobic.” He says as he brushes one hand against Tony’s cheek. He feels the need to touch him, anywhere and everywhere, because he still can’t believe this is real.

But it is. 

Despite the odds and the chances and fate, this is real.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments!!


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